1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to educational devices and to article and surface demonstration devices concerned with toiletries, and in particular to a personal appearance modification display and selection system enabling an individual to view proposed changes in appearance in advance of the changes by overlaying transparent sheets imprinted with images of the proposed appearance modifiers over an appropriately sized instant photograph of the individual to compare a variety of proposed appearance changes as they would look on the individual.
2. Background Art
Considering a change in appearance with a different hairstyle, hair color, custom-made wig or toupee, hair transplant, cosmetic surgery, custom-made hat, bridal or other headpiece, custom eyeglasses, or any other major change affecting the facial appearance is a major concern for individuals, with considerable uncertainty in the outcome surrounding such change. Selecting such an appearance modification is a personal and very important decision. What looks attractive on one individual may look horrible on another. Therefore, the practice of having individuals select a new appearance modifier based upon looking at others or pictures of others with the appearance modifier may turn out to be a disaster because of the difference in the individual's facial structure, coloring, features or any of a number of unique physical characteristics. The ideal situation is for each individual actually to be able to see the appearance modifier on himself or herself before making the change.
In the case of a hat or other off-the-shelf article, a person may try on the article and look in the mirror. But in the case of a new hairstyle, custom designed article, plastic surgery or other proposed modification of appearance without try-on capability, individuals must rely on other means to visualize how the change will affect their appearance.
Prior art systems provide for visualizing make-up or hairstyles on indivduals, but they involve very expensive and elaborate equipment including videos and computers to transpose an image of a hairstyle onto an image of a customer. At least one worker is required to operate the elaborate prior art systems, sometimes requiring the worker to have artistic talent in creating the image of the customer with a proposed hairstyle. Viewing each hairstyle requires a technically detailed and time-consuming task of electronically transposing one image on the other. To produce each image requires several minutes. And each image costs the customer a substantial sum of money. Usually the number of images is limited because of the time factor involved as well as the expense.
Video imaging systems all have a visual acuity problem because of the nature of the image comprised of a number of dots flashing across the screen. The quality of the image is somewhat blurry at best even with an expert technician. More often the problem is compounded because of nonexpert operators producing very blurry video images and unnatural color, particularly in the flesh tones and hair colors, the no most crucial factors in making a hairstyle selection.
The prior art video hairstyle selection systems are out in public display for all in the hair salon to see, and often attracting considerable attention while a customer is making a selection. This public showing of a customer with an unflattering hairstyle is very embarrassing to the customer.
Photographs of the video image of the customer with the proposed hairstyle are usually quite fuzzy due to the imperfect nature of the video image which does not lend itself to photographing.
The inventor's own prior art system described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,776,796 requires mounting images of hairstyles on a page and inserting an instant photograph into narrow slots to view each hairstyle, which may be somewhat time consuming and frustrating as well as causing damage and wear to the slot through repeated usage. The invention in the patent was also intended primarily for hairstyle changes with a system and method appropriate for viewing proposed new hairstyles.